Gary Miller: ‘The Guy in the box’

Getting to know USD’s beloved kiosk greeter

Allie Longo / Asst. Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Whether a student is running late to their 7:45 a.m. class, walking home during dead hours or showing up to school for their morning sports practice, they have most likely received a friendly wave from Gary Miller. Gary is the kiosk greeter at the main campus entrance at the University of San Diego, known for his outgoing and kind personality. Gary greets each passing student during his shift, sometimes even sharing words of encouragement or an endearing compliment. Many could assume Gary has worked at USD for a while, as he is quite a well-known figure on campus, but he has only been here for six months since joining USD’s campus in May 2022. In these short few months, Gary has left a profound impact on the USD community through his unwavering kindness and commitment to making everyone’s day a little brighter.

Prior to working at USD, Gary has lived a life filled with various occupations, quite different from the work he does now for USD. Gary was born and raised in Williamsburg, New York: a suburb in Brooklyn. He was raised by two immigrant parents, his mother from Latvia and his father from Poland. Gary went on to college at the University at Albany in Albany, New York, where he played lacrosse all four years.

After graduating, Gary moved to Los Angeles to attend chiropractic school. He then relocated to San Diego and opened his own chiropractic practice, which he owned for 38 years. At the same time, he also bartended at a hotel and taught spin classes. Gary kept this busy lifestyle for many years, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and affected each of his jobs, ultimately leaving him temporarily unemployed.

“I retired during COVID-19. The chiropractic business became unobtainable,” Gary stated. “It became a mess to be a chiropractor during COVID-19, the hotel closed, and then the gyms closed. So I was unemployed for a couple of years, just living hand to mouth.”

During his unemployment, Gary had a discussion with his longtime girlfriend, who has  worked at USD for 29 years.

“I told her in that period — when I wasn’t working — that I wanted to be the guy in the box,” Gary described, referencing USD’s entrance kiosk. “In fact, I told her 10 years ago I wanted to be the guy in the box.”

After spending so much of his career juggling multiple jobs, Gary desired a laid back  lifestyle, so he decided to apply for the kiosk job and got it soon after. Even so, Gary admits that he went about the job a bit unconventionally. He began by always keeping the left door of the kiosk open, to greet employees and passersby. Gary is bilingual in Spanish and always made an effort to speak with those on the USD campus that speak Spanish. 

Along with people, Gary began to greet animals he would meet during his shifts.

“I feed the crows, squirrels and dogs,” Gary explained. “Dog biscuits for the dogs, peanuts for the squirrels and crows.”

After having such a great response to opening the left side of the kiosk, he decided to open the right, and that’s when his popularity on the USD campus took off. By leaving  the right side of the kiosk open, Gary began chatting with the students as they walked onto campus. 

As he began greeting and talking with students, Gary became especially close with athletes of the school, who walk to campus earliest in the morning. 

“I started saying ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ to the students, especially the basketball, volleyball players and rowers,” Gary stated. “And then the students started responding when I greeted them. Then some would boldly ask me my name, and we would start having a conversation, and then it just exploded for me in every way.”

The friendship and kindness between Gary and student-athletes goes both ways. USD sophomore Bendji Pierre, forward on the USD Men’s Basketball team, always appreciates his interactions with Gary.

“He is always encouraging, always giving our team good energy,” Bendji stated. “He is an energy boost. Every time I see him he is always in good spirits; he is never discouraging, and he is always even-keeled. Seeing that before I go to class makes my day.”

Though he appreciates connecting with the student-athletes, Gary makes a constant effort to greet each and every student, and he has had nothing but positive responses to his friendliness on campus.

“One of the greatest signs of respect on this campus is when a student pulls their earbud out to say ‘hi’ to me,” Gary remarked. “Students constantly pull their earbuds out as they walk by, because they want to hear what I am yelling out to them.”

USD junior Rachel Conley notices and appreciates Gary’s constant kindness, and discussed its impact on her college experience.

“Gary has had such a positive impact on my experience at USD. Every morning, afternoon and evening I walk by the security gate, Gary always has the biggest smile and warmest welcome,” Conley stated. “His spirit and uplifting words are truly a gift to the USD community.”

Gary attributes his positive and uplifting spirit  to his past careers.

“I have always been this way. People never wanted to go to a grumpy chiropractor, [and] as a bartender, the nicer you are the bigger your tip jar is,” Gary explained. “As a spin instructor screaming my head off at 5:30 a.m., I have always been sort of paid to be that uptempo, positive guy.”

Forming these meaningful connections with students has left him with only positive things to say about the USD community.

“I think this is an amazing school, and it has amazing students. They are bright, well scrubbed, they have been raised well, and they are all so respectful,” expressed Gary. 

Tearfully, Miller explained how self-fulfilling working at the kiosk has been —something he never expected to such a degree from a job.

“I never expected at this stage in my life that I would have a job that would give me the opportunity to make 200-300 people smile every day,” Gary expressed. “My time on campus is hardly ‘working.’ It is a gift from God that I am employed sharing my bright spirit with so many wonderful students.”

Though Gary has only been working at USD for a short time, he has managed to make an immense impact on students and the community as a whole. In regards to how many more years he would work, he guessed around 10. Looking at Gary’s track record, one can only imagine the immense impact he will continue to make at USD.